Miracle story about St Joseph —

• Loretto Chapel (1878) Miracle Staircase –
  • Santa Fe, New Mex
  • millions/yr – 130 yrs old
  • nuns needed staircase for a 22″ choir loft
• too small a space – too small for staircase
• Nuns prayed to St. Joseph – a novena
• On tenth day, a man showed up on a donkey looking for work
• Using the tools around his belt, the man made the staircase himself
• Man disappeared without notice, or pay
• Staircase – the pride of carpentry
• it has two 360 degree turns and no central support, no nails, screws, or glue
• it hangs there with no support
• Architects say that gravity … it should have crashed the moment someone stepped on it
• But used daily for 100+ yrs
• Rumor: ST JOSEPH BUILT IT
• Three mysteries to this:
  • 1) ID of man is unknwon
  • 2) architects, engineers and scientists cannot explain how the stair case can balance without central support
  • 3) wood – the type of wood used is not found anywhere in the region
• 33 stairs!!!!

Folks — all our readings are about this: God is always calling us to the next level, to a higher level.  The first reading is about Abraham. God calls him to the top of the hill to give him the Abrahamic covenant. In our Gospel Jesus takes Peter and James and John to the top of the Mt of transfiguration. Our second reading, Paul reminds us that our citizenship is heaven….God calls us UP

And everything we do — it’s a step up to heaven, or a step down to perdition

It can be easier to go down…….it’s easier to “go with the flow,” to go down the gravity, etc

But God calls us up

It’s worth the climb

And we don’t ascend alone…..we help each other out, we must — or we will fail

Let us make the climb!